Luebke has been out since April 27 with an elbow injury and apparently some thought has been given to attempting to pitch through the partial ligament tear, but every indication is that he’ll go under the knife at some point later this week.

It’s a tough break for the Padres, as Luebke had emerged as a long-term building block despite not debuting in the majors until age 25, throwing 188 innings with a 3.25 ERA and 195/58 K/BB ratio. Even worse, the season-ending injury and 12-month recovery timetable come right after Luebke and the Padres agreed to a contract extension worth $12 million in guaranteed money and as much as $27 million through 2017.